Mori

The Mori clan was a feudal domain of the Sengoku Period that had lands in Chugoku in western Honshu. Famed for their seapower, the Mori defeated an Oda incursion at the First Battle of Kizugawa and also won many battles on land, masterminded by Motonari Mori. Eventually, the Mori were defeated by larger warships at the Second Battle of Kizugawa in 1578 and were forced to submit.

History
The Mori were descended from Emperor Seiwa and the Minamoto clan leader Minamoto Yoshiie, and had their lands centered around Itsukushima (Miyajima). From the time of the Jokyu War of 1221, the Mori had been appointed to government posts and they backed Ashikaga Takauji's rebellion in 1333 that overthrew the Hojo Shogunate of Kamakura.

During the Sengoku Period (1478-1615), the Mori clan began to take advantage of their resources. The province of Aki was a maritime land, swelling with shipbuilders and merchants. Motonari Mori built vast fleets as well as armies and defeated his opponents. In the Battle of Chugoku, Motonari Mori acted to assist the shogun by declaring war on Nobunaga Oda and defeating his Tachibana allies. Motonari made the Tachibana his vassals and they defeated several Oda invasions, but in th 1579 Second Battle of Kizugawa Nobunaga Oda's larger O Ataka Bune warships triumphed over Yoshitaka Kuki's smaller ships. The Oda victory resulted in the Mori clan's submission.

As vassals of the Oda and then the Toyotomi, the Mori clan were forced to fight in Hideyoshi Hashiba's battles as his soldiers. In 1598, after Hideyoshi's death, they fought as loyalists to his cause's Western Army at the Battle of Sekigahara against Ieyasu Tokugawa's Tokugawa-led Eastern Army, and after their defeat, they were given one-third of their original lands: the Choshu Domain was born.